Thom Yorke, right, and Ed O'Brien of Radiohead perform at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., in June 2006. (AP file photo)

Back in 2007, Radiohead’s decision to release its “In Rainbows” album online with “pay what you want” pricing was seen as a triumphant blow against an obsolete music industry. Now, it seems, frontman Thom Yorke has his doubts.

A more traditional physical release which followed the online release also did well, with the album hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Exact sales figures were never released and conflicting interpretations abounded, but the online release was widely deemed a success. Many cited it as proof that a popular band could circumvent the industry and go directly to fans, or have it both ways with no downside.

But in a new interview with the Guardian, Yorke observes that while the move might have subverted the corporate music industry, it might have played into the hands of Internet business such as Apple and Google, which profit by serving as a conduit for content created by others.

"We were so into the net around the time of Kid A," Yorke says in the interview. "Really thought it might be an amazing way of connecting and communicating. And then very quickly we started having meetings where people started talking about what we did as 'content'. … I was like, what is this 'content' which you describe? Just a filling of time and space with stuff, emotion, so you can sell it?"

The process essentially devalues the content, Yorke tells interviewer Tim Adams. “And this is what we want? I still think it will be undermined in some way," he says. "It doesn't make sense to me.”

In the interview, Yorke extensively discusses his efforts to adjust to Radiohead’s fame. He also discusses “Amok,” his new album with Atoms for Peace, an all-star group including Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.